The Lake, Central Park

          The Central Park Lake, in conjunction with the Ramble, creates an essential part of the "Greensward" design plan created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux when designing the initial features of what would become Central Park. 

        What is now a stunning and picturesque 18-acre lake was once nothing more than a large, untamed swamp. After its excavation in 1857, the Lake was opened for its first winter of ice-skating in 1858. Until 1950, the Lake was used for ice-skating during the winter months and boating in the summer. After 1950, however, the skating rink was officially closed, allowing the Lake's former wildlife inhabitants to take up residence there once more. As such, the Lake is now an excellent location for bird watching, where one can spot swans, ducks, and even the occasional egret or heron.

          The second largest man-made body of water in the Park, the Lake provides wonderful opportunities for viewing its abundant flora and fauna from rowboats, which are available for rent during the spring and summer months at the Loeb Boathouse. Aside from taking a boat, other options for nature sightseeing include taking a Venetian-style gondola ride around the Lake, or simply walking along the shore.

         Like many other Park attractions, the Lake was also restored by the Central Park Conservancy. It was reopened to visitors in 2008. The Lake is a sight not to be missed if you're in the mood for a calming boat ride through bamboo patches, bridges, and natural splendor in the Park.

   

                                                                                 Source: www.centralpark.com/-Jesse M. Wheeler

Roosevelt Island

          Roosevelt Island is a narrow island in New York City's East River. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east, and is part of  the borough of Manhattan. Running from Manhattan's East 46th to East 85th Streets, it is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, with a maximum width of 800 feet (240 m), and a total area of 147 acres (0.59 km2). Together with Mill Rock, Roosevelt Island constitutes Manhattan's Census Tract 238, which has a land area of 0.279 sq mi (0.72 km2).and had a population of 9,520 in 2000 according to the US Census.The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation estimated its population was about 12,000 in 2007. The island was called Minnehanonck by the Lenape and Varkens Eylandt (Hog Island) by New Netherlanders, and during the colonial era and later as Blackwell's Island. It was known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973.

          Roosevelt Island is owned by the city, but was leased to the state of New York's Urban Development Corporation for 99 years in 1969. Most of the residential buildings on Roosevelt Island are rental buildings. There is also a cooperative (Rivercross) and a condominium building (Riverwalk). One rental building (Eastwood) has left New York State's Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, though current residents are still protected. Three other buildings are now working toward privatization, including the cooperative.

Governors Island

          Governors Island is a 172-acre (70 ha) island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile (1 km) from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Physically, the island changed greatly during the early 20th century. Using material excavated from the Lexington Avenue subway, the Army Corps of Engineers supervised the deposit of 4,787,000 cubic yards of fill on the south side of Governors Island, adding 103 acres (42 ha) of flat, treeless land by 1912 and bringing the total acreage of the island to 172.

          The Native Americans of the Manhattan region referred to the island as "Paggank", meaning 'nut island', doubtless after the island's plentiful hickory, oak, and chestnut trees the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block called it "Noten Eylant", a translation, and this was borrowed into English as "Nutten Island". The island's current name, made official in 1784, stems from British colonial times when the colonial assembly reserved the island for the exclusive use of New York's royal governors.

         On May 24, 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground on the new park and public spaces designed by the landscape design firm West 8, along with announcing the opening of the rehabilitated Castle Williams.

         The national historic landmark district, approximately 92 acres (37 ha) of the northern half of the island, is open to the public for several months in the summer and early fall. The circumferential road around the island is also open to the public. The island is accessed by free ferries from Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel)

           The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, is a toll road in New York City which crosses under the East River at its mouth, connecting the Borough of Brooklyn on Long Island with the Borough of Manhattan. The tunnel nearly passes underneath Governors Island, but does not provide vehicular access to the island. It consists of twin tubes, carrying four traffic lanes, and at 9,117 feet (2,779 m) is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America. It was opened to traffic in 1950. It currently carries the unsigned Interstate 478 (I-478) designation, and formerly carried New York State Route 27A (NY 27A). The tunnel was officially named after former New York Governor Hugh Carey in December 2010.

     Construction began on October 28, 1940 by the New York City Tunnel Authority, with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A large part of Little Syria, a mostly Christian Syrian/Lebanese neighborhood centered around Washington Street, was razed to create the entrance ramps for the tunnel. The shops and residents of Little Syria later moved to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.The tunnel was designed by Ole Singstad and partially completed when World War II brought a halt to construction. After the War, the Triborough Bridge Authority was merged with the Tunnel Authority, allowing the new Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) to take over the project. TBTA Chairman Robert Moses directed the tunnel be finished with a different method for finishing the tunnel walls. This resulted in leaking and, according to Robert Caro, the TBTA fixed the leaks by using a design almost identical to Singstad's original.The tunnel opened to traffic on May 25, 1950.

Harlem

         Harlem is a large neighborhood within the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s, Harlem has been known as a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle.

         Harlem is located in Upper Manhattan—often referred to as Uptown by locals—and stretches from the East River west to the Hudson River between 155 Street, where it meets Washington Heights, to a ragged border along the south.

        Central Harlem—Manhattan Community Board No. 10—is bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east,

Central Park on the south, Morningside Park, Saint Nicholas and Edgecombe Avenues on the west and the Harlem River on the north. A chain of three large linear parks; Morningside, St. Nicholas and Jackie Robinson are situated on steeply rising banks and form most of the district's western boundary. On the east, Fifth Avenue and Marcus Garvey Park, also known as Mount Morris Park, separate this area from East Harlem.

        The West Harlem neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights comprise Manhattan Community Board No. 9. The area is bounded by Cathedral Parkway (110th Street) on the South; 155th Street on the North; Manhattan/Morningside Ave/St.Nicholas/Bradhurst/Edgecome Avenues on the East; and the Hudson River on the west.

        East Harlem, within Manhattan Community Board 11, is bounded by East 96th Street on the south, East 142nd Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west and the Harlem River on the east.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

        The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (sometimes abbreviated by locals as JKO) – originally and sometimes still known as the Central Park Reservoir – is a decommissioned reservoir in Central Park in the borough of Manhattan.

The Reservoir covers 106 acres (43 ha) and holds over 1,000,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 m3) of water.Though no longer used to distribute New York City's water supply, it provides water for the Pooland the Harlem Meer. It is a popular place of  interest; there is a 1.58-mile (2.54 km)jogging track around it and it is also encircled by the park's bridle trail.

The Reservoir was built between 1858 and 1862, to the design for Central Park of  Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux,who designed its two pumphouses of Manhattan schist with granite facings. It was never a collecting reservoir. It was used to receive water from the Croton Aqueduct and distribute it to Manhattan.

After 131 years of service, it was decommissioned in 1993, after it was deemed obsolete because of a new main under 79th Street that connected with the Third Water Tunnel and because of growing concerns that it could become contaminated.It was renamed in honor of  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1994 to commemorate her contributions to the city, because she enjoyed jogging in the area,which lay beneath the windows of her Fifth Avenue apartment.

Lincoln Tunnel

       The Lincoln Tunnel is a 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in the USA. An integral conduit within the New York Metropolitan Area, it was designed by Ole Singstad and named after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. It is one of two automobile tunnels built under the river, the other being the Holland Tunnel. The Lincoln Tunnel carries a daily average of approximately 108,000 motor vehicles. The tunnel was originally to be named the Midtown Vehicular Tunnel, but the planners eventually decided that the new tunnel deserved a name that was of similar importance to that of the George Washington Bridge, and named it after Abraham Lincoln.

     Designed by Ole Singstad, the tunnel was funded by the New Deal's Public Works Administration. Construction began on the first tube in March 1934.It opened to traffic on December 22, 1937, charging $0.50 per passenger car, equal to $8.73 today.  The cost of construction was $85,000,000, equal to $1,483,271,144 today. 

       Starting on December 1, 2013, the cash tolls going from New Jersey to New York are $13 for both of cars and motorcycles; there is no toll for passenger vehicles going from New York

to New Jersey. E-ZPass users are charged $9.00 for cars and $8.00 for motorcycles during off-peak hours (outside of 6–10 a.m. and 4–8 p.m. on the weekdays; and outside of 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on the weekends) and $11.00 for cars and $10.00 for motorcycles during peak hours (6–10 a.m. and 4–8 p.m. on the weekdays; and 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on the weekends)..

Tubes
 
            Opening year                                Length  
south tube: 1957 south tube: 2,440 m (8,006 ft)
            center tube: 1937 center tube: 2,504 m (8,216 ft)
            north tube: 1945 north tube: 2,281 m (7,482 ft)